"Police initially tried to get the person to come back voluntarily," Supt Buckley said.

"When it appeared he was in difficulties, two police officers removed their equipment and jumped in the river and swam out to try to assist him.

"The man was in the middle of the river and unfortunately before they got to the middle of the river he disappeared from sight."

Community constables will be involved in discussions with the man's family and friends.

"This is an extremely tragic situation for the families of the person who died and our condolences go to them we appreciate they would be very upset by what's occurred, on this occasion we have organised for our community constables and our community programs people to speak to the group, we think it's very important we continue a good relationship with each other," Supt Buckley said.

"Ultimately police were reacting because of the action of the individual and they were merely investigating the offence.

"The penalty for something like that [theft of a handbag] would not be severe, it's extremely unfortunate that the male's made this decision because it's resulted in him losing his life."